By the way, we won the Iraq War

I know, right? Here I thought it was the biggest mistake ever, by the most evil president ever. At least that’s what I’ve been told again and again by our moral, ethical, and intellectual betters on the left. But apparently Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki disagrees.

Today, on the 10th anniversary of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the debate about whether it was worth it to topple the regime and the direction of the U.S.-Iraqi relationship is influenced by a pessimistic view that the United States has lost Iraq. Not true. Despite all the problems of the past decade, the overwhelming majority of Iraqis agree that we’re better off today than under Hussein’s brutal dictatorship.

Iraqis will remain grateful for the U.S. role and for the losses sustained by military and civilian personnel that contributed in ending Hussein’s rule. These losses pale by comparison, of course, to those sustained by the Iraqi people. Our government emerges from this experience determined to ensure that these sacrifices contribute to a future of freedom and prosperity for our country…

The United States has not “lost” Iraq. Instead, in Iraq, the United States has found a partner for our shared strategic concerns and our common efforts on energy, economics and the promotion of peace and democracy.

Well, that’s weird. That whole thing was George Bush’s idea, wasn’t it? And yet this guy is claiming it was the right thing to do? How can that be right?

Isn’t it odd how everybody stopped keeping a death toll of Americans killed overseas after January 20, 2009? But then, as the great lady once said: What difference does it make?